Beijing Olympics: London 2012 observers learn ropes in China

More than a hundred London 2012 officials will be descending on Beijing over
the next few weeks but many will be lucky if they see any live sport at all.

By Simon Hart in Beijing

9:02PM BST 05 Aug 2008

Instead of watching the world’s greatest athletes, they are more likely to be checking competitors’ accreditation or serving them breakfast.

The London representatives will be in China as part of the International Olympic Committee’s observer programme, which gives future host-city staff the chance to gain hands-on experience of what it takes to run an Olympic Games.

“Some of our people won’t get to see any sport,” said London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton. “They’ll see a lot of back-of-house stuff, plenty of portable toilets and a lot of operational things.

“They’ll see the inside of the village and find out how you feed 11,000 athletes.

“That’s the kind of stuff we’re looking at because when we get to 2012, I want our people blooded in Beijing so that when we get to London we know what’s coming.”

Related Articles

Deighton, the former Goldman Sachs investment banker who took charge of the London organising committee (LOCOG) in 2005, admits he has a lot to learn about the nuts and bolts of the Olympics, having never previously been to a summer Games.

Deighton added: “It’s critical for me because I’ve been working on the basis of getting downloads from people who have done this before. I will be immersing myself in every single aspect of the Games.”

Around 30 London staff have been in China for several weeks working alongside their equivalents on the Beijing organising committee in areas such as technology and running the Olympic village.

The rest will arrive in waves during the Games, with some staying on for the Paralympics next month.

“The next few weeks are, by some magnitude, the most crucial since London won the vote,” said Deighton.

“The day after winning the vote, we had the July 7 bombings, and we would like to let the UK pick up again on celebrations that were cut short.”